WORLD BRIEFING | EUROPE; France: Ex-Minister To Join Academy

By STEVEN ERLANGER

Published: March 18, 2010

Simone Veil, 82, a Holocaust survivor who became a French minister and president of the European Parliament, will become the sixth woman to enter the Acad?e Fran?se on Thursday. The state-sponsored body oversees French language and usage. The ceremony will be attended by President Nicolas Sarkozy and former President Jacques Chirac and will be televised live. Ms. Veil, who also served on the Constitutional Council, is considered responsible for legalizing abortion in France as minister of health in 1975 and is one of the most popular women in the country.